Panaattu & Paani Panaattu: Sri Lankan Palmyrah fruit treats

If you’ve seen my earlier panampazham/ palmyrah fruit processing and rice-cake-making posts, you’ll know that I’ve worked with toddy palm fruits a lot this year. Drying and preserving the panampazham pulp into what we might these days call “fruit leather” or the equivalent of aam papad for panampazham–or what Tamils in Northern Sri Lanka call panampazha panaattu (though that may be a redundancy, since the “pa” of the “panaattu” is the same “pa” of the panampazham!). Actually: பனம்பழ பிணாட்டு or பனாட்டு [panampazha piNaattu or panaattu]: “pi” with the ண (of Ganesh) or “pa” with the ன (of Nitya) depending on whom you’re asking. Either way, “panaattu” refers to dried “jelly” from the toddy palm: காய்ந்தபனங்களி, kaayinda-pana-kali.

Now panattu is a tea time treat in Sri Lanka, but there’s surprisingly little information out there on traditional methods of making, using, and so on–though both panaattu and paani panaattu are (I believe) commercially available. The best how-to guidance I had was in two posts by Ahila Thillainathan who was following her mother’s methods in making panaattu and paani panaattu. But I also followed my own nose, per force, because there was only so much pulp to work with, and only so many days of hot-enough-sunshine before the rains set in and the risk of spoilage-before-drying became high.

Update: There are several videos and other documentations, however, on the making of thaati thandra or the jelly of the palm fruit, as this is known in Telugu. So it’s not a Tamil-exclusive creation, but one that’s known in any region where toddy palm grows and where there’s heat and sun enough to undertake this sort of serious drying.

The process is simple, but slow. Essentially, it involves spreading small quantities of fruit pulp on palmyra mats daily, and letting this sun-dry in stages until you have a fruit leather that’s about 1/2″ thick and can be cut and stored away. The pulp can be sweetened and then dried, or simply dried as-is (which is what I did). Alternatively, all the pulp is spread to dry into a thin sheet which is smeared with coconut oil and then folded into a thicker cake [as you see being done in this video].

I didn’t have palmyra leaf mats (so I used whole leaves instead, fallen from a neighbor’s tree) and I never got to 1/2″ but stopped as soon as I had a thickness I could pull away from the leaf surfaces, as you see. More of a பனாட்டுத்தோல் or panampazham skin, or பனாட்டுத்தட்டு or thin panampazham laminate, I suppose.

Now this panaattu can be smeared with some good coconut oil, cut and simply stored away; it’s rich in vitamins and a perfect sweet thing to nibble on, no extra sugar added. In fact, there’s some research suggesting its efficacy as an anti-hyperglycemic (anti-diabetic) agent. Then, it’s a possible base for a thair pachchadi–yogurt salad or what Kannadigas call a thambuli. The precedent for this comes in none other than Meenakshi Ammal’s classic Tamil cookery book, Samaitthu Paar, which contains a recipe for rehydrated dry mango ground with green chilli and yogurt, and seasoned. Panaattu feels right for that treatment, too, with some coconut blended in for good measure and yogurt on the tart side of set to off-set the panaattu’s sweetness. Like so…

Incidentally: traditional and beloved as panaattu appears to be, you’d not want to be called “panaattukoodaipol”/ பனாட்டுக்கூடைபோல–or like a basket of panaattu, because that would be like calling you short, dense, and heavy!

The unsweetened and “pure” panampazham has a bitter taste of its own which gets concentrated in dried form so most of us will have to learn to like it. [Unless, I suppose, one sweetens the pulp before the drying stages, which I didn’t.]

So, I proceeded to stage 2, which is a second preservation of these dried fruit bits in spices with palm jaggery molasses, called paani. Palm jaggery comes to us in solid form, but if it isn’t used right away, it liquifies on its own–you could call it a regression back into molasses. I used this, in the absence of fresh molasses. You could also just use a pana-vella paakam or thickened syrup of the jaggery itself.

The result is a sort of jammy preserve, which is spicy-sweet and, with the texture of coconut and the panaattu pieces added in, slightly on the chewy side. It’s the texture of a thick lehyam, for those of you who know those Ayurvedic medicinal pastes. It’s tasty enough, but not one of those lick-the-jar-clean preserves, much more an acquired taste.

Ideas on how to use this, now that you’re done with the panampazham journey this year and have fully satisfied yourself by the process but now need to consume the product:

• as an ice-cream topper
• to sweeten chilled sodas & turn them into interesting
• mix in a little hot water, grind with a green chilli & some fresh coconut, mix with yogurt and season with mustard seeds, a pinch of hing, and curry leaves–Meenakshi Ammal style!
• Got others? add them to the comments below!

Paani Panaattu or dry toddy palm fruit preserve

This is a northern Sri Lankan preparation, made by preserving the dried pulp of the toddy palm fruit in spiced palm jaggery molasses. Use it to top ice creams or to sweeten soda, or even to prepare yogurt pacchadis.

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Ingredients

  

• 1 cup panaattu cut into small pieces
• ½ cup paani or palm jaggery molasses or palm jaggery
• 2 tablespoons of dry coconut pieces
• 1 tablespoon parboiled rice
• ½ teaspoon jeera
• 1 teaspoon of crushed dry red chillies

Instructions

 

• Dry roast the coconut, rice, and jeera one after another, until fragrant. Lightly crush the jeera. Set aside.
• Prepare the paani or paakkam. Dissolve the palm jaggery in 2-3 tablespoons of water over low heat. Simmer for a few minutes until it is thick and bubbling. If you’re starting with paani or palm jaggery molasses, you can just bring this to a gentle simmer and then follow the next steps.
• Add the roasted coconut, rice, crushed jeera, and the red chilli powder. Mix well.
• Next, add the panaattu pieces and stir to incorporate.
• The mixture will thicken in a couple of minutes. When it does, remove from stove and allow to cool.
• Store in an earthen pot or other air-tight container. This keeps well, even without refrigeration, for several months.